Longing
by harumelys
Summary: He just wanted the old Aomine to come back to him


'Cause I want to activate in here again. Gonna publish more my AoKuro-fics tomorrow, so please enjoy from this for now! I don't own anything, just the story and my imagination.

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There was no mistake of it, Aomine had changed. He had changed so much.

He looked at Kuroko, his eyes full of arrogance. It was as if the Aomine Kuroko had known in Teikou had completely died away.

Though Kuroko wanted to move his eyes away, to look somewhere else, he didn't do it. He kept them on Aomine's face, feeling the horrible, empty pain inside him. This was his best friend. Standing over him like an obstacle he could never overcome.

"Your basketball will never win against mine," Aomine said, stretching his words lazily. "Actually, I'm a bit disappointed. This is all you could do?"

_Please, stop saying those things. Please, Aomine-kun. This isn't you._

But Kuroko kept silent.

So they lost. They lost so badly.

But even so, the lost itself wasn't the worst thing that made Kuroko feel so damn bad. It was how Aomine – his Aomine – had changed. All he'd wanted was that Aomine would play with a smile again, actually enjoy it. But seems like it was completely impossible for him now, when Seirin was this… weak. Because that's what they were, against Touou.

After the horrible loss at the Inter-High Seirin kept practicing, but Kuroko couldn't concentrate. Aomine's change bothered him, and now he was on bad terms with Kagami as well – just how badly could things suddenly get, honestly?

_What should I do to get the old Aomine back? _Kuroko wondered as he walked home after one practice. Would the answer be that Aomine should lose against him?

Kuroko stopped by Maji Burger to get a vanilla shake, and then proceeded on walking towards home. He could hear thunder in the distance, and smelled the rain in the wind. That made him remember all of those times he had walked home after school with Aomine and they had shared an umbrella – and some kisses – while walking.

Because of Aomine had changed, Kuroko hadn't only lost his best friend, he'd lost the one he'd care about more than he could've ever imagined.

Kuroko stepped out from the Maji Burger with his milkshake and continued walking.

Just a couple of minutes later Kuroko stopped dead in his tracks, gaped to the other side of the road, saw a familiar tall frame and dark blue school uniform. He saw close-cropped, dark blue hair (such a contrast to his own light blue, which he always paid attention to), the tanned skin.

Aomine.

Kuroko bit his lip, and before he could stop his tongue he found himself shouting, "Aomine-kun!"

Aomine stopped and looked over his shoulder. A gust of wind blew through the street, made the dropped leaves dance in the air.

_I want to see Aomine-kun smiling again._

Kuroko ran over the road, gripping his milkshake so much he almost made the milkshake come out of it. Aomine waited for him, looking bored and lazy.

"Tetsu," he said. "What's up?"

"Just… hold on a moment," Kuroko gasped and stopped to gather his breath. He didn't have any idea what he was even supposed to say. Nothing he said could make anything better anymore.

But in the end he didn't have to say anything. Aomine understood. Things had been like that between ever since they'd met. They could understand each other just from expressions. And, in this case, they were connected, both spiritually and physically.

Kuroko just wasn't able to let go of it.

It started to rain. Aomine opened his umbrella. Kuroko noticed that his former light had come just a bit closer, to get him too under it. He gritted his teeth.

"You know things can't be the same," Aomine said, after the silence between them had started to turn awkward.

"I know," Kuroko said faintly. "But… that doesn't mean that everything is lost." There was that suffocating feeling in his chest again.

"We're not kids anymore, Tetsu," Aomine said. "We're enemies. And you lost to me."

"I know," Kuroko said again. "It's just…" It started to rain even more. Thunder was also closer. He looked to his feet, unable to meet Aomine's gaze. "I miss you… Aomine-kun. So… much." It took everything he had to say that out loud – which was really a sad thing, because before those kinds of things had been much easier to say.

Aomine didn't say anything. Kuroko saw him turning, as if he was about to leave.

_Don't do this again. Don't you just turn your back on me._

He grasped the sleeve of Aomine's jacket, swallowed. Then he said it. "I just want the old Aomine-kun to come back to me. He's in there. I know it."

"Tetsu…" Aomine said.

Kuroko lifted his eyes up to look at Aomine. They stood so close. Before this kind of situation had always resulted to a kiss.

Rain patted the umbrella. A car drove past them. The silence kept stretching on and on.

At first Kuroko thought that it was rain that was falling down on his cheeks. Then he realized that he was still under the umbrella. He lifted his shaking hand to wipe away the tears, but Aomine stopped him before he could do that.

"I'm sorry," the taller boy said hoarsely. Then he bent down to kiss Kuroko again.

It didn't last long, but as Aomine pulled back he brushed the tears away with his finger, looking like he was feeling as bad as Kuroko felt. Then the two hugged tightly, for the first time in a long while.

For Kuroko it felt like there hadn't been time. Aomine still felt the same as always. He even smelled the same. He buried his face to Aomine's shirt and felt how the other boy held him. It was all so familiar.

Things may be different now, but Kuroko had the strongest feeling, that if he kept trying, if he'd win against Aomine in a match, it would all get better. If he just kept trying, he might be able to reach to Aomine's old personality and bring it back.

Because, more than anything, Kuroko just wanted to see Aomine smiling happily again.


End file.
